Sebae
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 세배 |
| Hanja : | 歲 拜 |
| Revised Romanization : | sebae |
| McCune-Reischauer : | sepae |
Sebae ( 세배 ) is a ritual bow to parents or grandparents at Seollal ( 설날 ), the Korean New Year.
procedure
The ritual of bowing differs somewhat for males and females. Both stand in front of the people sitting on the floor before whom they want to bow. The female person places the right hand over the left in front of her stomach, a little below the navel, the male person in reverse order. Then the female person brings her hands down to the sides of the body, kneels and sits. Then the hands are placed shoulder-width apart in front of the body on the floor and the back is bent. She looks down, with the head, neck and upper body forming a line. At the same time, the male person lifts his hands on top of each other up to chest level. While he kneels down on the floor, the hands are placed in the same position in front of the floor and the head is lowered so that the forehead touches the back of the left hand.
After bowing, the female straightens up without touching the ground with her hands. The arms remain lowered next to the body. At the same time, the male straightens up. Keeping your hands on top of each other, they are brought back at chest height at a distance from the body, only to be lowered again afterwards and to rest a little below the navel.
For the female person, there is a second variant of bowing, in which she crosses her legs in a crouching position and while bowing, the hands are placed on top of each other and held a little below the forehead. After straightening up, the hands remain just below the navel, just like with the male.
Both wish the elderly who are sitting on the floor in front of them a Happy New Year and a long healthy life. Then both of them go to the elderly, kneel on the floor in front of them and receive good wishes for their future lives from the elderly and, as a thank you, Sebaedon ( 세뱃돈 ), a small gift of money.
Web links
- Korean Style Greetings: How to do a Sebae bow on Seollal, Lunar New Year's Day . Visit Korea,accessed February 20, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Let's Learn How to Perform 'Sebae' . Visit Korea , accessed February 20, 2015 .